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Monday, December 22, 1997

Word from Barry Switzer should be goodbye

By Gil LeBreton

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - The room was deathly quiet, and quarterback Troy Aikman was leaning into his locker on Sunday, attempting to gather his things, when a most unlikely sympathizer suddenly appeared at his side.

The surprise caller was none other than Barry Switzer, the ghost of Cowboys Sundays past. And as the TV cameras rolled and the rest of us gasped, Switzer leaned against Aikman's locker and began to speak in hushed, almost fatherly tones.

Oh, puh-leese. A little too late for a heart-to-heart talk with the star quarterback, don't you think?

But so it was for the Switzer-era Cowboys, who lost one more time on Sunday, 20-7, to the New York Giants. For four years, Coach Boomer was always either not saying enough or bellowing too much.

What he said to Aikman at the locker on Sunday, Switzer reported, was "personal." Aikman, ever gracious, handled the unscheduled tete-a-tete with aplomb and declined to elaborate.

Yet it made for probably good TV and an appropriately bizarre concluding scene to this thankless 6-10 season. The only thing more fitting might have been if Aikman had suddenly reared and kissed Switzer on the lips, like Michael and Fredo Corleone in that second "Godfather" movie.

Soon, like Fredo, Switzer will be sleeping with the football fishes. The owner isn't saying, but the telltale signs are everywhere - among them, the 30,000 or so seats that remained empty on Sunday as the Cowboys wrapped up their stumbling journey to nowhere.

Fewer than 10,000 were on hand for the finish. Some jeered Switzer as he left the field. Some simply stood above the stadium tunnel and waved him a hearty goodbye.

"I have no idea what's going to happen," Aikman said. And maybe he doesn't.

But common sense - and probably Owner Jones - tells Aikman that changes must be made before next season. And since the owner has millions invested long-term in a select superstar nucleus, the only possible solution is to begin by firing the head coach.

"It's not for me to decide," Aikman said in the interview room. "Those who make those decisions will decide what changes need to be made.

"I'm looking forward to doing whatever needs to be done to make this a better football team."

But where to begin?

How do you judge the inconsistent efforts of an Erik Williams or an Emmitt Smith? How do you rate a no-impact free agent like Anthony Miller? And who decides whether Nate Newton gets invited back or whether it's time for Mark Tuinei to retire?

Was this team's problem old age, or was it just Switzer?

"Hey, this didn't happen overnight," Aikman said. "We've been declining for a number of years, and it all caught up with us."

Declining, maybe. But plunging into 6-10 oblivion took some assistance.

"I thought that we'd definitely be one of the teams that would do well," said receiver Miller, who finished the season with 46 catches yet failed to stretch defenses in the manner once predicted.

Terms of Miller's contract make him a free agent, and he said on Sunday, "I'd love to come back because I know Jerry will have this team ready and be a Super Bowl contender next year."

In Jerry, indeed, they trust. It's Switzer whose star nobody continues to cling to.

But where to begin?

The Cowboys need a pass rush, or Kevin Smith will continue to have lapses at cornerback. The offensive line will have to look for free agents to fill in at the guards. Maybe Stepfret Williams is next year's No. 2 receiver; maybe he isn't. Maybe the new offensive coordinator can rekindle a fire under Emmitt.

Pressed for suggestions, Aikman answered, "I could stand here for hours talking about things that need to be done to improve this football team."

But he won't because, he says, it's out of his hands. In recent weeks, Aikman seems to have gone out of his way to distance himself from any decision on Switzer. That is odd, because Switzer thought nothing of letting a former assistant coach pass judgment on Aikman and label him a racist two seasons ago.

Given their stormy past, one would think that Aikman would welcome the opportunity to cast the deciding negative vote against Switzer.

Instead, he keeps his distance, treading confidently around the periphery of the subject.

A suspicious observer would say that, despite Owner Jones' insistence that nothing has been decided, Aikman has received his share of hints. Hence, another reason he kept a civil tongue during Sunday's Switzer surprise visit.

A visit, let me suggest, that the head coach staged knowing the cameras would be in full view. One more shallow gesture for the road.

Interstate 35 North - better sooner than later.

(c) 1997, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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